COP8 Report: Addressing Climate Change May Delay Ozone Layer Recovery

Pamela Wexler

At the Eighth Meeting of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (COP8) in New Delhi, India in October 2002, the Parties requested the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in consultation with the Montreal Protocol’s Technical Economic and Assessment Panel (TEAP), to develop a special report on hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The Special Report, expected to be available in early 2005, is intended to improve decisionmaking about replacing ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) and ensure that such decisions promote the objectives of the Climate Convention, Kyoto Protocol and Montreal Protocol.

The Decision reflects increasing concern about the use of certain Kyoto gases – primarily HFCs, ammonia and carbon dioxide – as replacements for ODSs. HFCs, for instance, have allowed for the rapid phaseout of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons in developed countries, and are still important to the safe and cost-effective phaseout of those ODSs in economies-in-transition and developing countries. UNFCCC Parties are anxious to stem steep projected increases of HFC emissions, while among Montreal Protocol decisionmakers there is concern that Kyoto restrictions on the use of HFCs could delay and increase the cost of the phaseout of CFCs where alternatives to ODSs do not exist.

Both Protocols share the concern that potential restrictions on HFCs creates business uncertainties and could force manufacturers to either prolong the use of ODSs, delaying ozone layer repair, or compromise performance with the potential for increasing energy use and associated emissions. The Special Report is expected to help countries and the private sector make fully informed decisions about ODS replacements, and to further assist countries to optimize their approaches to minimizing greenhouse gas emissions.